RUSTON – Not much has changed around Louisiana Tech’s basketball program. The current roster tells a different story, but the same goal remains intact — get to the NCAA Tournament.

For seniors Raheem Appleby, Speedy Smith and Michale Kyser, this is their last chance to dance.

“For us, we are eager to take the next step,” Tech coach Michael White said Monday. “It is going to happen for this program, I hope it happens this year. I hope it happens with this class. I want it more for these three seniors than anything else and obviously our fan base who has been waiting for a very long time to get back into that NCAA Tournament.”

Tech opened fall practice this past Friday during which the NCAA Tournament talk started to run rampant. The Bulldogs continue workouts for the next six weeks leading up to the opener Nov. 14 at Southern in Baton Rouge.

One year removed from White avoiding the four-letter (NCAA) word, it appears he has no other choice but to embrace it.

“I have tried not talking about it, but these three seniors will not let me avoid it,” White said. “That is what they talk about daily. I am a big ownership guy and I talk a lot, but I want our players to do a lot of talking, especially our leaders.”

Tech has nine new players on its roster — five true freshmen, two junior college transfers, a redshirt and a transfer — leaving just four players with any Division I floor experience.

The Bulldogs benefited from a foreign trip to the Bahamas in August to help acclimate the new faces.

“I am scared about where our team is right now because we have so far to go,” White said. “It would be very hard to sleep, I would probably have no sleep because of how far we have to go.”

The three-game exhibition tournament served as a mini-camp of sorts and a way for all 13 players to gel. Some pieces will have to be shuffled during the next few weeks before freshmen guards Dayon Griffin and Jacoby Boykins return from injuries suffered in the Bahamas.

White said Griffin is a couple weeks away, while Boykins could be back in four weeks.

Without Griffin and Boykins, White has crosstrained some of his forwards to help Smith and Appleby in the backcourt.

In the frontcourt, Kyser continues to develop his game and will be counted on even more than last year when he averaged 3.0 blocks per game.

“We are going to be a long athletic team just like last year,” Kyser said. “We will be even longer this year and shape up very well.”